How to brew with Vanilla and Cinnamon

You don't want to add vanilla extract to the boil, the flavors and aromas are real sensitive to heat, you always add vanilla later. I like to add split vanilla beans to the secondary.

I'll typically add ground spices at flameout if I am confident on the amounts. Otherwise I'd add whole sticks of cinnamon to the secondary as well.

 

In a 5 gallon batch of my Baltic Porter, I've had good results soaking 1 vanilla bean and 2 cinnamon sticks in vodka for a few days then adding the vodka, vanilla and cinnamon to the secondary for about a week.

 

use whole cinnamon sticks as opposed to powder, also hit them with a torch to release the oils... yum.

 

I have good results adding them to the water for priming sugar then boil it a couple of minutes for sanitation. I do it with a Pumpkin Ale I brew all year round and people love it. Cheers!

 

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/beanilla-com-vanilla-beans.269578/#post-3427587
http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...a-russian-imperial-stout.244009/#post-3257519

This topic comes up a lot on this forum...do a little searching and you will find multiple threads about Vanilla beans and using them in homebrew. As for the cinnamon...I would keep the addition to a minimum, unless you really really like cinnamon! I add like 1/2 tsp into the boil at around 5 minutes to go, for my Pumpkin brews, with good results.